This invention relates to the intensive cultivation and growing of vegetable matter, especially bean sprouts, in apparatus providing a controlled environment.
The prior art has provided intensive cultivation apparatus including a cabinet equipped with several growth chambers or bins for growing sprouts or the like. The cabinet is provided with spray heads and control means therefor in order that water at a desired temperature may be periodically sprayed onto the growing sprouts in order to maintain the moisture and temperature conditions needed for rapid growth. The cabinet may be provided with auxiliary thermostatically controlled heating or cooling means in order to maintain the cabinet interior at a prescribed temperature. In the above-noted apparatus, the beans to be sprouted are typically placed on perforated plates above the bottom of the growth bins. After germination, the sprouts grow rapidly and the expanding mass of sprouts, after about a three-day interval, fills the bin, which is then emptied and restocked with a fresh supply of beans. By properly rotating the bins in sequence, provision is made for a new supply of sprouts each day.
While the above arrangement has been widely used for a number of years to supply various commercial establishments, a number of problems have been noted. The above process tends to produce rather long, thin and tangled (curly) sprouts. Since bean sprouts are commonly used in "stir-fry" type cooking there is a tendency for these sprouts to become entangled with both themselves and the other vegetables being cooked. The sprouts may also have a tendency to produce a substantial amount of fine root hairs during growth. These root hairs are objectionable and down-grade the quality of the sprouts.
Shorter and stouter, thicker and straighter sprouts have been desired for some time. In addition to reducing problems of tangling, such sprouts are considered to be superior in taste, i.e., they are somewhat sweeter and crisper than the longer, thin, curly sprouts typically produced by the prior art apparatus described above. The problem is that the equipment and methods available to date have not been able to produce these desirable sprouts consistently and in the quantities necessary for a commercial operation.